Marauders: Year One
by PoeticLife
Summary: "So we've got one who's full of himself, one who doesn't think enough of himself, one who isn't as full of himself as he seems, and one who won't murder the lot. This is going to be an interesting year." / Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter, starting their years at Hogwarts. No slash intended, although you can read what you want.
1. One

**If anyone's wondering why I skipped a huge part in the beginning, here's my reasoning: you know it. You all know that they come from extremely different families and that Lily and Snape have an instant dislike for them. You know that they're sorted into Gryffindor. I have nothing new to add to that part, and honestly, I find it a bit boring. I'm starting here because I feel I can make the story my own that way.**

 **This story won't be updated regularly. I sometimes write half a chapter, get bored, and desert whatever it is I'm writing for ages. This first chapter was originally going to be one of the many, many oneshots I've posted here, but I wrote something after this (second chapter already written? Gasp!) and decided I could work on my attention span and writing ability with this.**

 **I hope you enjoy reading this cobbled-together mess of a story.**

* * *

The room was spectacularly red. Remus had forgotten most of what his mother had mentioned about how colours made you feel, but if he remembered right, he was going to have some very angry dorm mates. There were only a few gold things around the room, minor things like picture frames and curtain linings, and the red theme seemed to be very much in keeping with the common room below.

The bed closest to the window had been taken by a tall boy with blonde hair and bluish-grey eyes. His facial features were alright on their own, but together, made him look rather ratlike. He had tripped on his robes on the way past Remus's compartment on the train.

The next bed had already been claimed by a boy who'd been bragging about having all his family in Gryffindor. Remus hadn't paid him much attention, merely noting his unusually messy hair, arrogance, and loud laughter.

The boy in the next bed had stood next to him during the sorting and had stuck in his memory simply for how ill he had looked. At the moment, he seemed fine, with black hair and a face that could be called handsome a few years from now.

Remus had taken the last bed, the one furthest from the window. He was fairly average-looking, with sandy brown hair and a quiet voice, but there was a conspicuous series of scars running from his left cheekbone to his right jawbone. He wondered what the other boys were thinking about him.

After the seven seconds it took to take in everything, including the slightly awkward pause between them all looking at each other and starting a conversation, the arrogant boy spoke.

"So who're my new dorm mates, and what're you lot like?"

"I'm Peter Pettigrew, and I'm pretty fine," said the blonde boy, blushing a bit. "I'm also not as full of myself as that sounded, sorry."

"I'm Sirius Black, and I hate both my first and last name. I'm also nothing like the rest of my family, so if any of you know anything about them, relax. I'm not plotting to kill you in your sleep," the black-haired boy assured them.

Remus supposed it was his turn. "I'm Remus Lupin, and I probably have the most boring life of anyone here."

"I'm James Potter, and I plan to be the youngest Seeker in a century for Gryffindor's Quidditch team," the arrogant boy finished.

"So we've got one who's full of himself, one who doesn't think enough of himself, one who isn't as full of himself as he seems, and one who won't murder the lot," Sirius observed. "This is going to be an interesting year."

Remus let out a startled laugh, James bit back a grin, and Peter sniggered. Apparently pleased by the reaction, he continued. "So, Remus, what makes you say you're boring?"

"I was named after someone who didn't found Rome, and I read theory for fun. I didn't say I wanted to be boring, it's just the hand life dealt me," Remus replied with a slightly sarcastic undertone. "How about you, Starboy?"

It was Sirius's turn to laugh, and the short bark was unexpected. "Starboy?"

"I could call you something else, if you'd like. Would mutt be appropriate?" After a moment, he asked, "You're probably going to get tired of hearing this, but how'd a Black end up in Gryffindor?"

"White sheep," he replied laconically. "Ask Godric Potter over there if you want a chat about houses."

"Oi!" James said half-heartedly.

Sirius ignored him. "So did everyone get into the house they wanted? Anyone have Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw families?"

"I thought I'd be in Hufflepuff," Peter admitted. "I'm stupid enough to be. Apparently I'm brave now, although I don't see that in me either."

"I'm sure you're at least a little clever," Remus assured him. "Don't worry, I'm not sure if I'm glad about my house yet either. I thought I'd be in Ravenclaw like my dad."

James's mouth dropped open. " _Not sure if you're glad?_ How can you not be sure if you're glad? This is _Gryffindor_ we're talking about here, not Slytherin!"

"Lay off, Potter, not everyone spent their childhood worshipping at the altar of all that's brave and good," Sirius said, a little harsher than he'd meant it to sound. "If we're all sorted by family, you'd be alone here, and if that's what you stand by, that might be the case anyways."

There was a tense silence for a moment before James smiled reluctantly. "You, I like."

"You, I don't," he replied coolly. "Peter, give us a short summary of your life."

"Um," Peter said eloquently. "Born in April, my dad's a Muggle, I was about nine when my parents told me about magic because I locked a boy in a cupboard by accident, and I got my Hogwarts letter and came here. I have a little sister named Penelope. That's about it."

Sirius nodded. "Excellent. Lupin?"

"Small Welsh town no one's ever heard of, my dad wrote a Defense Against the Dark Arts book that sold pretty well about two years before I was born, and my favourite band is the Beatles with the Who in close second. How about you?"

"Raised by pure-blood maniacs, little brother who I hate, am now a Gryffindor. Not much else to tell." Sirius shrugged with unusually tense shoulders, which didn't escape Remus's notice. "And what did _you_ do with your life when you weren't trying to get into this house?"

James's mouth twitched. "Well, I wore lots of red, tried my hardest to be chivalrous, and proved my bravery by experimenting with my dad's line of hair products. Didn't everyone?"

Remus and Peter sniggered. James offered an apologetic smile, and after a moment, Sirius grinned. "You are funny, Godric, I'll give you that."

"Quit it with the Godric, and we could probably friends, Black," he said, and laughed.

Sirius's grin faded just a tiny bit. "Quit it with the Black, and you're probably right."

"Alright, then," James agreed amiably. "Sirius it is. Anyone else got any preferences for names? Rem instead of Remus, or Pete instead of Peter, or any objections to being called by your last name?"

"Don't nickname me, just Remus. Or Lupin. Either way, no nicknames," he said.

Peter shrugged. "First name, I guess? I don't mind nicknames."

"Now that's sorted out," James said cheerfully, flopping himself from a sitting position to lying down on his bed. "In the morning we all go down to breakfast together, alright? We won't get lost alone that way. Actually, with my keen navigating skills, we won't get lost at all!"

Remus didn't quite trust the glint in his eye, but said nothing. Objections could wait until morning.


	2. Two

**Because I've already gotten a review and a favourite, and I had this written anyways, here's another chapter. Don't expect updates to be anywhere near this regular.**

 **Another thing I'm doing in this story that might not be popular: I'm portraying Peter as part of the group. I think Sirius would have bullied him quite a bit the way most fans write him, and even though he does put him down a bit in the books (when they're friends), it's only a jab, not outright bullying.**

 **James has an ego, and I'm writing him with one. Sirius is an extremely flawed individual, and I'm not going to write him obsessed with him hair or hyper. I'm not going to write either of them as nine-year-old girls.**

 **I'm not going to write Snape or Lily as innocents, and I'm trying my best to add another dimension to what we know happened in canon with them. They will make an appearance - not sure when, but they will - and so will other students.**

 **If anyone has any questions, any characters in their house or others to add in, any ideas for pranks (I need those desperately), please tell me in a review or PM.**

 **Thank you for reading this.**

* * *

"It's time to admit it," Remus told them, his voice quiet but resonating around the stone corridor. "We -"

Sirius shushed him impatiently. "Don't be so pessimistic, Lupin. We are _not_ admitting defeat." There was a look in his eye that Remus didn't feel comfortable with at all, and when he turned to James and Peter for support, he found similar looks in their eyes. He supposed he must have missed their insanity in the excitement of being at Hogwarts.

"Gryffindors don't admit defeat," James added. Remus sighed to himself, realising and accepting that the role he would have to play with this group was voice of reason.

"So part of being a Gryffindor is not knowing how to pick your battles?" He asked with a smile in his voice.

Sirius stopped him to look directly into his eyes. " _Exactly,_ Lupin."

"Well, I have no problem in saying what we're all thinking, so here it is: we're los -"

All three of them shushed him loudly. Remus had a vivid mental image of three old ladies in a cinema and suppressed a laugh. "We're _not_ ," James corrected him fiercely. "We're exactly where we mean to be."

"And where is it you mean to be, may I ask?" He inquired with raised eyebrows.

"Here," Peter responded, and grinned a wicked grin that made him want to duck for cover. "You mayn't," James said at the same time, and grinned in almost exactly the same way.

Remus nodded like he understood. "Yes, and it's all well and good that you've got a plan, but the door we're about to walk through takes us to the grounds, and I can't see how that will help us get to the Great Hall in time for breakfast, or to the fourth floor in time for our first lesson."

They seemed to consider that for a second.

"How do you think we should go about it, then?" Sirius asked him, and he blinked, realising that they had effectively dumped navigatory responsibility onto him. They were looking at him like they expected some sort of brilliant insight, and he knew he had brought this on himself.

"Right," said Remus intelligently. "Um..."

There was a smirk curling at the corner of Sirius's mouth and an expectant look in James's eye, and the two combined seemed to make the gears in his brain start turning.

He closed his eyes, trying to picture the route going backwards. "That prefect Abbott showed us the was from the Great Hall, but not to it... alright, um, Fat Lady, tapestry, suits of armour, painting of a girl, gargoyle, a right turn, woman who looked like Anne Boleyn, moving staircases, landing, marble staircase. From the top of the stairs, we saw... I think I've got it."

His eyes flew open, and he felt the same grin on his face that had been on all three of theirs a moment ago. "It's on the other end of the castle, but it's this floor, and we can just go straight around on the outermost corridor."

Peter's eyes had gone wide, James's mouth was hanging open, and Sirius was looking at him with a new gleam he hadn't seen in his eyes yet. "You're good, Lupin, you really are."

"Wait until we get there," he replied, suddenly feeling self-conscious but giving him a small smile. "There's a chance I could be wrong."

As it turned out, he wasn't. Remus led them straight into the Great Hall, and as they walked towards the Gryffindor table, the three of them were watching him with the same gleam Sirius's eyes had. He realised with a jolt that it was respect. He had made _friends._ He'd have to distance himself now, and soon, before they grew too attached to him.

"You're good, Lupin," said Sirius with a kind of wonder in his voice. "You really are.

"It was nothing," Remus muttered, and sat down a little further from James than he needed to. He couldn't afford to risk his life for the sake of a few month's or maybe a full year's worth of happiness.


	3. Three

"Hello," said a rather short, intelligent-looking girl in surprise as Remus ran to her side so fast he had practically Apparated. "Who're you?"

"A boy in desperate need of a partner that I can actually work with," he said honestly. Part of his plot to get away from his quite-possibly-new-friends was to work with as many other people as was possible and hope they got the message. He also suspected that they would be the sort to cause trouble in class for the sake of it, and desperately wanted to make a good impression on the first day. "My new friends are all very nice, but not what you'd call intellectual."

She cast his group of friends, Sirius in particular, a disdainful look. They were sitting in the back, trying to kick each other in the shins and sniggering at each other. "No, I don't imagine so. Um, what's your name, I meant?"

"Oh," he said suddenly, feeling stupid. "Remus, Remus Lupin. I heard Professor Binns last block call you Lucy Esposito..."

"Lily Evans," she corrected him, laughing. She was quite pretty, really, with red-brown hair and striking green eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, he called you Ralph Lowe, so I don't think we can trust the way he says anyone's name."

Remus grimaced. "It's been a long time since anyone mangled my name that badly. I get the occasional _RAY-mus,_ but I get the feeling he's been teaching so long he just doesn't have the memory, or doesn't care. Maybe a little of both, who knows?"

She grinned and opened her mouth to say something, but they fell into silence as they both saw Professor McGonagall at the front of the room looking ready to speak, instinctively knowing that this was not a woman who would tolerate much.

"I am Professor McGonagall, for those of you who have forgotten, and I am head of Gryffindor house," she said, her sharp grey eyes focused on the back of the classroom. Remus that that he might have been right to disassociate himself from the friends he was trying to ditch anyways, at least for this lesson.

"My goal for this year is to teach you the basics of Transfiguration, and some of the theory behind it. If you find yourself struggling, there is a homework group that meets in the library every Wednesday after lessons, or you can talk to me before or after class. Our first lesson - will hopefully not consist of whispering amongst each other, but it is apparently unavoidable. Stand up, please, and tell me your names."

Remus had a sinking feeling in his stomach, and it was proved right when he turned around.

"James Potter," James said, standing up and looking slightly embarrassed. "Peter Pettigrew," Peter said, looking absolutely horrified on being called out like this.

"Well, Mr. Potter, Mr. Pettigrew, would you like to tell us what you've been discussing instead of listening to the necessary information?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Peter, who was already pink, went red. James looked extremely embarrassed for a second, but hid it behind a charming smile. "We've been talking about our experiences with Transfiguration, Professor."

"And what experiences have you had?" she persisted, making Peter go beyond red, bypassing scarlet and turning crimson. James's smile seemed fixed in place.

"His uncle turned him into a rat for an hour, and I accidentally turned a button into a silver coin," James replied, and Peter flinched, apparently unable to turn any other colour.

"Thank you," Professor McGonagall told them, and swept up to the front of the room again. "Transfiguration is turning one thing into another. Charming is altering, but not fundamentally changing something, but Transfiguration is fundamentally changing one object, animal, or person into something else. Buttons into silver would be considered Transfiguration, but buttons into different coloured buttons would be considered Charming. Thank you for the example, Mr. Potter."

Remus glanced back at them. Peter had sank back into his seat, head in his arms, and James looked embarrassed but genuinely interested in the lesson. Sirius was smirking, and from beside him, Lily Evans frowned disapprovingly.

"Now, your assignment for this class..."

* * *

"She's an interesting teacher, at least," James said as they were getting ready for bed in the dormitories. "I get the feeling she's not going to let us get away with much, which isn't a quality I look for in the head of my house, but I get the feeling I'm going to like Transfiguration."

Peter stared at him like he thought he might be insane. "You're joking, aren't you? That woman's a nightmare! That was humiliating!"

"Fun, more like," James said lazily. "Now, as I was saying in there before she called on us - if we're going to be pranking people, we need to take credit for it, or else people will think that we're the innocent little firsties and we can't have that."

Remus snorted. He had been sitting on his bed in his corner of the dormitory silently before this, and they all turned around to look at him. "What is it?"

"If you take credit for too many, it'll be assumed that you're behind everything, and you'll be in detentions until sixth year," Remus explained, so tired that he had forgotten that he was talking aloud. "Wouldn't it be better if there was an unknown prankster at Hogwarts, wreaking havoc on students, staff and spirits alike?"

There was a small silence. Remus realised what he had said and slapped his hands over his mouth. "I didn't say that," he insisted in a muffled voice, seeing the glints in their eyes.

"You're brilliant," said Sirius, ideas already forming. "Lupin, you need to be a part of this. Who needs to be pranked?"

"So that you don't get caught?" Remus asked, uncomfortable with being the mastermind when he had decided just that morning to be the sane one and to stay out of it if at all possible. "I'd say one of you. Then you could have that in your defence. _No, Professor, why would I prank myself or my friends?_ If you want to go about it properly, that is," he added, noticing them staring at him.

"How is it that you have all these brains and you aren't in Ravenclaw?" Peter asked the world in general.

Remus remembered the Hat mentioning how brave he would have to be to survive, never mind attend Hogwarts. Trying to avoid thinking about what would happen soon enough, he said in a serious voice, "I frequently save damsels from dragons, Peter. I live a double life of doing gallant and bold deeds for helpless maidens."

James almost collapsed laughing.


	4. Four

**I've just put up a oneshot about the last fight between Helena Ravenclaw and the Bloody Baron, if anyone's interested. I'm a bit proud of it. Anyways, here's a chapter with Lily - again - and an open declaration of friendship.**

* * *

Remus opened his window. The night was hot and stagnant, and without a window even a little bit ajar, it was nearly unbearable. His father had told him not to go anywhere near any windows or doors tonight, but it was so hot he was sure his father would understand.

He sat on his bed, breathing in cool air and thinking that if his parents could stop yelling at each other about grey backs and ministries, it would be a perfect moment. The scene vaguely reminded him of something, but he couldn't think what just yet.

There was a sniffing sound and then a crash, and Remus saw with a thrill of horror what was about to happen to him. There was a wolf outside that had thrown itself against the screen of his window and landed in his room, taking a few agonising seconds to stand up again and stare at him. He heard both his parent's panicked voices from the next room saying things like _"This is my fault!" "Oh, God, is that him?" "Remus!"_ and _"I knew this would happen! I swear I'll kill that monster!"_.

"Oh, Merlin," he whispered to himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would do anything, I didn't think there would be any harm in it, oh, Merlin, please, please let me die, don't let it happen again -"

The wolf grinned an odd, slow grin and pounced, claws ripping his side open and dragging across his face, bringing its mouth towards his shoulder.

Remus screamed, terrified, and his eyes flew open. After a few seconds of disorientation, he saw that he was in the Gryffindor dormitories, and had apparently woken everyone up. His clock said 4:26.

"What's going on?" Sirius yelled, already on his feet. James was sitting up and reaching for something - either his glasses or his wand, maybe both - and Peter was beside him in a position suggesting that he had been trying to wake him up.

"Nothing," Remus said, and was surprised by how shaky his voice was. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep, you can still get a few more hours."

"You're answering questions in the morning, Lupin," James said sleepily, putting his wand down and folding the arms of his glasses.

He couldn't sleep. He kept going over the scene in his mind, wondering if that was the night he was bitten. Remus had dreamt about it a few different ways, and he had no idea which was real, although they all ended in the same way.

He had no doubt James would question him, and his only solution was not to give him a chance to. He would partner with Lily Evans in class and avoid them as best he could, then run to the Hospital Wing, where he wouldn't be back from for at least a day.

This tidy way of avoiding all his problems rather backfired when he fell asleep in one of the comfy chairs in the common room, dreaming (for once) of nothing.

"Remus, are you alright?"

Remus opened his eyes blearily to see Lily Evans sitting in the chair next to him, an oddly sympathetic look on her face. "Hm? Hi, Lily. What d'you mean?"

"I mean you're looking too pale and you've fallen asleep in the common room," she explained, watching him closely. "Did one of those boys force you out of your dormitory or something?"

"No, it's nothing like that," he said, deciding for the moment that it was best not to give away too much free information. "Couldn't sleep, that's all."

Lily didn't look convinced. He smiled, more to cheer her up than because he felt cheerful himself, and asked, "How's your morning going?"

"Not bad," she said, apparently going with the topic change. "I'm meeting Sev in the Great Hall for breakfast - actually, if I don't leave in a few minutes, I'll be late - and I've written to my sister about what's been happening in this first week. She's a Muggle, and I'm Muggle-born," she added off his confused look. "She's been a bit miffed that I get to go to this school, I think, and I'm trying to explain to her that magic isn't all bad."

"My dad didn't tell my mum he had magic until after they were married. I'm told she took it surprisingly well," he said, trying to encourage her. "Maybe she needs some time to come around. Have you sent the letter?"

She nodded, obviously more nervous than she wanted him to think she was. "I'll tell you how it goes when I get a response. I'll see you later?"

Remus smiled, feeling a little less on edge. "Alright, see you."

She climbed out of the Portrait Hole, and he thought he should get going before -

"Lupin!"

\- but, of course, no such luck.

"Why do you keep following me?" Remus asked, turning around to see the three of them behind him yet again. He had spent the past week trying to get rid of them a subtly as he could; apparently, he needed to be a little clearer. "Why do you have such an interest in me?"

"You keep us from getting lost," Sirius replied in his typical honest way, "and friends are supposed to take an interest in each other. Also, friends are supposed to be at least a little concerned when a friend wakes everyone up screaming."

He tried not to look as frustrated as he felt. It seemed to work. "Are we friends?"

"Of course we are," said James, looking vaguely offended. "We sleep in the same room, share stories, and borrow each other's socks, don't we?"

 _Forced, voluntary, and forced,_ Remus thought. Out loud, he said, "I thought you were just being nice to keep peace in our dormitories. If you were, you can say it, I don't mind at all."

Peter frowned at him, looking concerned. "Are you alright? You look very pale."

"Fine," muttered Remus. "It's just, you know, I don't want to find out in a few months that I've only been a nuisance to you the whole time. I'd like to know up front."

"We're friends," Sirius said firmly, "destined to be the best of friends. Nothing will keep us from our destiny, Lupin, _nothing._ "

He sighed quietly, and Sirius, not hearing it, took his silence as a sign to continue. "So what in Merlin's name was that about last night, mate?"

"Can we not?" Remus asked, and he probably looked about as tired and desperate as he felt, because Peter, James, and even Sirius started to look worried. "Please. That's the last thing I want to talk about."

"Alright," James agreed without another question. "Lead us to breakfast, then, Lupin."


	5. Five

**Please. Prank ideas. Even if they're really random or weird. What would you do to someone who got you angry if you were an eleven-year-old with magic powers and a tendency not to think things through? All my ideas are really** **pathetic, and I can't write the next chapter without one. If you have multiple ideas, tell me them and I'll probably include them in future chapters.** **They don't have to be good. At this point, they're eleven, and while eleven-year-olds can be pretty clever, I get the impression that James and Sirius aren't exactly great at the planning or patience it takes to pull off something elaborate yet.**

 **Also, tell me if there's a scene you really want to see. Do you think Remus can play the piano, or wonder what James rambles about when he's so tired he can't think straight? I'll try to include it in here or in a separate oneshot. I desperately need prompts to write oneshots for this group of characters.**

 **On another note, thank you to Chibi-Twan and Aithne Morrigan for reviewing!**

Remus had left breakfast early for classes. The Great Hall had seemed louder than it usually did. The symptoms at full moons were generally the same - heightened senses, shorter temper, headaches, sometimes looking or feeling ill - but it varied month-to-month, and this month, he could sense everything around him, every fork on every plate.

Lily Evans had been sitting at the Slytherin table, talking with the boy she had called Sev. Remus knew that his name was Severus Snape and that James and Sirius seemed to dislike him for no solid reason, saying something vague about Slytherins. Severus was tall for their age, with a curtain of black hair that would have resembled Sirius's if he hadn't washed for a few days.

James had spent breakfast watching them, a strange expression on his face. When Sirius had asked him, he had wondered aloud about the difficulties of inter-house friendships, "and especially when it's a Gryffindor going to talk with Slytherin, wouldn't you say, Lupin?"

"I suppose," he had agreed, having barely been listening. "I'm going to History of Magic now, do you mind...?"

Remus kept walking, wondering why he didn't feel like collapsing into his bed. Usually, it hit him harder than this. He supposed being distracted with a new school and trying to figure out how to get rid of his new friends must have contributed. He still hadn't found a way to distance himself when they all had the same classes and slept in the same room, and in a selfish way he was ashamed of, he didn't want to.

He wondered for a moment if it would be so bad to allow himself this. Remus shut his eyes, disgusted with himself for being so weak when he knew full well the kind of rejection he would eventually face.

Opening his eyes again, he walked into the History of Magic classroom, where Professor Binns read straight from the textbook, never adding, never cutting anything short. Remus had found this out over the course of a week by checking the index and chapter titles and so on in his copy of _A History Of Magic_ and following along.

James and Sirius took this lesson as an opportunity to see what they could get away with and Peter usually slept or took the occasional note, but Remus had discovered that he could catch up on homework for other classes while Professor Binns was "teaching".

He glanced around the room to find that he and Peter, who had apparently slipped out while James and Sirius were commenting on Lily and Severus, were the only people in the room.

"Hello," said Remus cheerfully, taking a seat next to him. "How's your life going?"

"Well, thanks," Peter replied, looking amused. "Actually, I was going to ask you about your life. Specifically, last night. I know you might not want to talk about it with Sirius or James, but I won't judge."

Remus blinked. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but this certainly hadn't been it. "Thank you, Peter."

Peter seemed to see his reluctance, and continued with a seemingly unconnected statement. "You know how in our first Transfiguration lesson, James told _everybody_ that my uncle turned me into a rat for an hour or so?"

He nodded, slightly confused. "Yeah?"

"It's true. My uncle's crazy. It runs in the family, if you listen to all the rumours spread around by the other types of pure-bloods. I'd said earlier that night that I wasn't fond of rats, then I said something a bit rude - I don't even remember what I said, can you believe that? - and he asked me how I'd like being a rat for a while, and then I was about the size of his foot. It was terrifying. I absolutely hate rats now."

Remus winced in sympathy. "That sounds awful."

He shrugged. "My point is, it might not be the same, but we've all had some things we don't want to share with the likes of Sirius and James. Too late for me, of course, but there's not much I can do about that now that it's out. If you need to talk about this to anyone, you can talk to me."

Surprised but grateful, Remus decided to tell Peter a modified version of the truth. "You see these scars on my face?"

Peter nodded. Remus knew that they weren't hard to miss.

"I used to live in a Muggle town. Still do, actually, just a different one. This happened when I was about five. Anyways, one of these Muggles there had a dog that was really vicious. I just happened to be there while its owner was playing with it, it took playing a bit too far, it attacked me, and it wouldn't stop. My first bit of accidental magic was forcing that dog halfway across the park."

Peter winced this time. "I'm not trying to be rude, but if you were five, why do you still...?"

"Have the scars?" Remus hadn't thought that far, and glanced down at his desk, hoping that he would appear reflective instead of dishonest. "Well, the Healer at St. Mungo's had a grudge against my dad, so he thought it would be a good little revenge to do this to his son."

"Oh, Merlin," Peter muttered, looking horrified. "He didn't heal it properly?"

"He barely healed it at all, and it hurt for weeks afterwards," he confirmed.

Peter shuddered. "I hope you don't think this is too pushy, but I heard you murmuring something about not thinking that there would be any harm in doing... something, and not wanting something to happen a second time..."

"I'm sorry, Peter, but this is where I stop answering questions," Remus replied, knowing the feel by now of growing suddenly pale. "So, did you do that Transfiguration essay?"

Peter didn't seem terribly convinced, but went with the topic change. Remus wondered what else he'd said in his sleep and resolved to learn a silencing charm as soon as he could. If he was going to keep having those nightmares, that was his problem and not his dormitory's.


End file.
